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The Medicare Shared Savings Program, the accountable care organization (ACO) model that served 10.6 million seniors in 2020, collectively saved Medicare $4.1 billion last year, and $1.9 billion after accounting for shared savings payments, according to the National Association of ACOs and as recently published in Healthcare Finance. 513 ACOs participated in the Shared Savings Program in 2020, down from the 541 MSSP ACOs in 2019.
According to CMS, data on ACO performance shows that over time ACOs taking accountability for costs perform better than those that do not. ACOs who assumed downside financial risk earned more shared savings than those who stayed in the upside risk model.